Sunday, July 20, 2025

Sunday, July 20, 2025
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Worship live on Sundays in person at 10:00 am
or online via YouTube at noon.

SUMMER IN THE PSALMS:
 “How to Talk with God”

Confession

Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God,
    because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
    blot out the stain of my sins.
Wash me clean from my guilt.
    Purify me from my sin …

Create in me a clean heart, O God.
    Renew a right spirit within me.

New Living Translation

Leader: light print / People: bold print / * Please stand as you are able.

GATHERING MUSIC
“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing”
John Wyeth  
led by Cynthia

GOD WELCOMES US
We share Community Life & greet each other.
Kids worship bags are available in the back.

WE DIRECT OUR MINDS TO GOD
DECLARING OUR UNITY IN WORSHIP
God’s love and mercy is with us today, cleansing us from every sin.
We joyfully sing of His forgiveness.
Jesus’ joy and gladness infuses our spirits.
We joyfully sing of His forgiveness.
The Spirit’s power makes us new creations.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we worship You in spirit and truth.

PRAYER SEEKING GOD’S PRESENCE
Holy God, You are merciful, full of love and compassion. We worship You today for Your grace and forgiveness that has overflowed to us. There is no one like You. Unseal our lips to praise You, for our hope is in You alone. Amen.

GOD, WE LOVE YOU
* “Come, Thou Fount” (Above All Else)
“My Jesus, I Love Thee”

GOD, WE’RE LISTENING
Daniel 9:3-12
read by Eric Hillabrant

Then I turned to the Lord God to seek an answer by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying,

“Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love with those who love You and keep Your commandments, we have sinned and done wrong, acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.

“Righteousness is on Your side, O Lord, but open shame, as at this day, falls on us, the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which You have driven them because of the treachery that they have committed against You. Open shame, O Lord, falls on us, our kings, our princes, and our ancestors because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, but we have rebelled against Him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by following His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets.

“All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, refusing to obey Your voice. So the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out upon us because we have sinned against You. He has confirmed His words that He spoke against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a calamity so great that what has been done against Jerusalem has never before been done under the whole heaven.

1 John 1:5-9
read by Eric Hillabrant

This is the message we have heard from Him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

SINGING OUR DESIRE TO HEAR FROM GOD
* “Open Our Eyes”

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
Children are invited to the front.

Following the message, children are invited to play in the gym. A parent from the church will supervise.

MESSAGE
Pants on Fire
Mary Spriggs

SINGING OUR COMMITMENT TO GOD
* “His Mercy Is More”

GOD HELP US
Prayer

WE CONCLUDE WITH THE LORD’S PRAYER:
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

THANKING GOD FOR HIS GOODNESS
We offer God a portion of our money as a way to say we love God, and desire to encourage the ministry & mission of the church.

giving opportunities: ravenscov.org/giving/
Zelle^® to: giving@ravenscov.org

MUSIC FOR REFLECTION
Minuet
Henry Purcell
led by Cynthia

SINGING OUR THANKSGIVING & ADORATION
* Praise God from whom all blessings flow 
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
hymnal #48

* TREES
(verses 2 and 5), a song based on the psalms
Please follow the words on the screen.

THE LAST GOOD WORD   
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

MUSIC ENDS OUR COMMUNAL CONVERSATION WITH GOD
March
Henry Purcell
led by Cynthia

GOD INVITES US TO GATHER AGAIN
We’ll be back here next Sunday. We hope you can join us.
Information on ravenscov.org.

Summer worship schedule
We are now in our summer worship schedule, which means a 10:00 am worship hour. Sunday School and Faith Forum are now on summer hiatus. Sunday worship will return to the 11:00 am hour the Sunday after Labor Day.

Hand fans available
We now have hand fans available for your use to help make Sunday mornings more comfortable during these hot summer months. They are on the table in the back of the sanctuary. Please do not throw away the fans or take them home, as they are meant to be cleaned and re-used. Please put them in the yellow accordion folder as you exit the sanctuary.

Northwestern University Summer Chorus concert
The Northwestern University Summer Chorus, which includes RECC member Jim Anderson, will present a concert entitled “Sing Me to Heaven” this coming Thursday, July 24, at 7:30 pm in the Alice Millar Chapel on the Northwestern campus at 1870 Sheridan Rd. in Evanston. The concert will feature music by Eric Whitacre, Daniel Gawthrop, Anders Paulsson, Mack Wilberg (Mozart), and Franck, and will feature “Te Deum for Double Chorus” by Eleanor Daley. Admission is $10 at the door, and cash or a check made out to Northwestern University will be accepted.

Summer Book Club
You are invited to take part in the Summer Book Club, led by Pastor Ryan, which will meet two Thursday evenings in each of the three summer months, at 7:00 pm in the upstairs lounge. The book is The Great De-churching by Jim Davis and Michael Graham. The remaining sessions of the Summer Book Club are July 24, August 7, and August 21. Participants are asked to please read pages 119-163 for the July 24 session.

Cooler Sundays
The fourth Sunday of each month of summer — June 22, July 27, and August 24 — is a Cooler Sunday, which features grilled hot dogs and hamburgers during the fellowship hour downstairs. The burgers, hot dogs, and drinks are provided. Please plan to join us next Sunday for the July edition of Cooler Sundays, and please bring a side dish or dessert to pass, as we enjoy food and fellowship after the service!

Scripture for next Sunday
Psalm 7
Lamentations 1:1-7
Mark 15:32-38

If you enjoy reading scripture out loud, please sign up to read scripture in worship. The sign-up sheet is on the table in the back of the sanctuary, or you can talk with Pastor Ryan or Gregory Sager.

Farmers market
A brief thunderstorm wiped out the first hour of Wednesday’s edition of the Ravenswood Community Farmers Market, holding down attendance to 340 adult visitors. Once again the church provided fun at the market for the neighborhood’s children via the church’s playground, the bounce house, the art tent, and the water play area.

The market runs every Wednesday from 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the church parking lot until the middle of October. The church not only hosts the market, it also operates the children’s activities that are a part of the market — and this year we are also going to reinstate our greeting tent on select Wednesdays, so that our neighbors visiting the market can get to know the church that hosts it a little better

How you can contribute:
* Pray for the community, the vendors and those from the church who volunteer.
* Purchase the following needs:
– Baby Wipes
– Blue Dawn Dish Soap
– Corn Starch
– Baking Soda
– White Vinegar (1/2 to 1 gallon size)

* Help with set-up and tear-down
* Help facilitate activities for the kids

See Bekah Carlson or the church staff if you’d like to join us to help on Wednesdays.

Ravenswood Covenant T-shirts
If you have ordered a new Ravenswood Covenant t-shirts but haven’t picked it up yet, plan to do so next Sunday, July 27, as that’s when Pastor Ryan (who has the t-shirts) is back from vacation. If you have not yet paid for your t-shirt, please bring your $10 to purchase the shirt next Sunday.

Thursday evening Bible study
The weekly Bible study meets Thursdays at 7:00 pm. We are currently studying the Gospel of Luke, to be followed by its sequel, the Acts of the Apostles. The Bible study meets in the upstairs lounge. For more information, please contact Gregory Sager in the church office at (773) 784-7091 or office@ravenscov.org.

The Bible study will not meet this summer on the Thursday evenings in which the Summer Book Club meets.

We have Zoom available for those who would like to take part in the Bible study but cannot be physically present. The Zoom link is https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83923376849?pwd=YUlYVXBmOVdwV0d5L20ySng3aHU3Zz09 .

Meeting ID: 839 2337 6849
Passcode: 318853

Danny Martinez and Friends concert
Central Conference Superintendant Danny Martinez, who is a recording artist as well as a Covenant pastor, is going to be in concert with his salsa band at North Park University’s Anderson Chapel (at the corner of Foster and Spaulding avenues) on August 2 at 6:00 pm. Admission is $15 at the door, and all of the money goes to aid the children of Guatemala.

* Cynthia Arden
* Nikolas Arden
* the Binag family
* Messian Burgos
* Shirley Deliberto
* Veronica Clarke
* Frank Coszach
* Vira Coszach
* Art Hamilton
* Trevor Hanks
* Lidija Jagustin
* the Olsen family
* Maria Paulette
* Brianna Randall
* Mary Smith
* Mary Spriggs
* Dorinne Tamras
* Lauren Vilardo
* Lydia Warrens

Our church exists to love and worship God, and love and care for others. By God’s grace, we commit to help people find and follow Jesus Christ through the guidance of His Spirit and His word.